Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1887-08-19
The Sword.
ON the new Orleans Picayune.

I ~
the invention Of gunpowder, the
sword was the chief weapon used
IN battle. A collection OF the swords
Of all ages and all nations would be
Of extreme interest. It would embrace
the stone swords of the Americas;
aborlgines, pointed and double-edged,
twenty-five inches long in the. blade,
which was with marvellous skill
wrought from a flint stone, and OF
which one OF the most magnificent
specimens extant is in the fine private
museum OF DR.. JONES', OF this city.
There would be also the bronze sword
OF the early Greeks and ofthe Teuton-
&c races; the short, stout sword of the
Roman, with its double-edged blade
nineteen inches long, of steel tempered
by Celtiberian smiths, carried to
Italy from the Spanish peninsula;
prominent would be the long two.
handed swords OF England in the time
Of Richard the Lion, with blades near
" five feet long, the weapon being
slung to the back and drawn over the
left shoulder. The sword of Richard
naturally suggests the scimiter of
Saladln with it's Damascus blade cur
we'd like the crescent it is so ably fought
| Tor. Such O. collection would not be
complete without the sword of the
south Sea Islander, made OF wood,
| its edges set with sharks teeth or
splinters OF obsidian in serrated rows,
terribly formidable when used upon
the naked body OF foe.
The sword represents so much in
war, history and romance that it
| brings up an endless array of interest
ing and Imposing events. All the early
people used a shield to repel attacks
with the sword, but after the Mid
| ale Ages the art OF fencing, probably
derived from India. was developed to
such a degree that the shield could be
dispensed With, and thesword became
| both sword and shield All the read
srs OF the Incompatible romances OF
Alexandra Dumas will remember the
| phenomenal fencing OF the celebrated
guardsmen.
The Orientals are the only people
who specially sharpen their swords.
Their curved blades, made as keen as
razors, are terribly formidable to
men not protected by steel armor.
In the celebrated trial of skill between
the English King and the Saracen
Sultan, as related by the immortal
! Walter Scott, the English champion
by main force cleft helmets and
chopped through at one blow an iron
mace, while the Saracen, with his
| keen blade, cut through shreds of silk
gauze as they hoated through the air.
In regard to the use of sharp blades
| for weapons, it is possible that the
| partiality of the American negro for
razor is due to the presence OF the
! Oriental passion for keen-bladed
swords. 1t has also been suggested
in this connection that the razor, ex-
cept where special statutes on the
subject exist, not being considered a
weapon, could be carried without
suspicion or hindrance, hence it's use
by the negro. A correspondent from
India, writing to the English Mechanic
on the wonderful sword practice with
sharp blades, says:
''Ihe quiet dweller in Europe will
scarcely believe the prodigies perform
| ed in rd-cuttine by these coarse,
| Unlocking bits of curved meta, costing
frequently no more than Is Sd to Is
had shot numerous wild beasts. when
was told by an expert that my hunt
ing education was very deficient, as
could not handle a scimeter to stop
my game. I was told to exercise con
tlnually on pillow OF soft clay and
thus acquire the drawing cut at the
proper part of the blade; then on
pillar loosely stuffed with cotton;then
on a newly killed wild cat or jackal,
kneaded previous to the practice by
the feet OF a heavy man till the car
cass became q loose, soft mass, then
on a. great pond carp, a fish clad With
heavy, horny scales, like elastic mail
considered an Affeat to test man
and sword. Ny first trial in this ex-
pertinent resulted in a triple fracture
OF the good blade, sundry scales flying
in the air, uncut, only dislodged; then
the artistic tour de force at paper
cones placed on table, and muslin
thrown up to g. height-all manner
OF strange and difficult tasks,
which. being only ornamental,
eventually torsook for the
useful and more easy decapitation OF
fierce quadrupeds, beginning with a
wounded wild hog OF full growth, and,
on essaylng the sloping stroke behind
| the ear, sweeping Off the head neatly,
that important part dropping between
the foreteet. Not long before I had
seen g. bold young Ghoorka dismount
from his elephant, leaving it standing
to await his return, and follow on
foot alone an immense boar he had
wounded with his rifle On nearing
the powerful brute. it champed it's
fomy tusks to charge. He drew his
pookpee Tor Nepaness sword). and
as it sprang at him the blade was
buried across piggy's back, all. but
severing him in two parts"
The sword in modern warfare is get.
ting to be a mere badge of Office and
proposition is said some time ago to
have been made to strip the infantry
officer in the French army ofhis sword
| and give him something to shoot with.
The manufacture of swords all over
the world is represented to have de-
clined visibly, and it is stated that
there is not in the United States to-
day q single establishment where
sword blades are made, unless it may
be that sabers for the cavalry are
manufactured III the United States
Armory at Springfield, Mass.
The Release of George BidWeI,
The Bank of England forger, who in
1872 was sentenced to Imprisonment
for life, is unprecedented in the 70.
nance attaching to the circumstances